Customs classification of sweetened supari stays tied to settled precedent; GST circular did not alter the position.

Customs classification of Scented, Flavoured and Sweetened Supari remained governed by the settled position under the earlier Delhi HC decision, which followed the Supreme Court ruling on betel nut products. The Court held that the GST circular dated 06.10.2021 was not material for determining customs classification and was not examined for validity; it also did not furnish reasons to depart from the settled position. As no basis was shown for classifying the product differently under Chapter 08 instead of Chapter 21, the challenge to the advance ruling failed.

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Issues: Whether the imported product "Scented & Flavoured and Sweetened Supari" was correctly classified under Chapter 08 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or was classifiable under Chapter 21, and whether the GST circular dated 06.10.2021 altered that classification.

Analysis: The classification dispute was already covered by an earlier decision of the Court, which in turn rested on the Supreme Court's ruling on betel nut products. The Court noted that the clarificatory GST circular relied upon by the appellant was not accepted as material for determining customs classification, and the circular was not examined for its validity. The Court also noted that the circular did not set out reasons to support a departure from the settled position.

Conclusion: The product was not shown to merit a different classification on the basis of the GST circular, and the challenge to the advance ruling failed.

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